4 minute read
Visit a winery
Wineries & vineyards
LaBelle Winery. Courtesy photo.
New Hampshire Wine Week propels the Granite State to the global stage in the world of wine every year in January, when the biggest names in the industry from Napa Valley to all over Europe participate in tastings, bottle signings, dinners and more. But you don’t have to go that far to experience quality winemaking year-round.
1. LABELLE WINERY
345 Route 101, Amherst, 672-9898, labellewinery.com A visit to a small winery while on vacation in Nova Scotia in 2001 inspired then-corporate attorney Amy LaBelle to pursue a new venture in winemaking. She founded LaBelle Winery in 2005 at Alyson’s Orchard in Walpole before later moving her growing business to its 20,000-square-foot flagship location in Amherst in late 2012. LaBelle Winery has since expanded to an onsite bistro restaurant and a line of specialty culinary products known as The Winemaker’s Kitchen, and also serves as a destination spot for weddings, tastings, tours, cooking classes and more. LaBelle Winery opened a second tasting room and retail store in Portsmouth in 2017. In December 2020, LaBelle and her husband Cesar Arboleda purchased the former Brookstone Events & Golf in Derry, opening a new restaurant concept, a retail market, a sparkling wine tasting barn and a nine-hole golf course.
2. ZORVINO VINEYARDS
226 Main St., Sandown, 887-8463, zorvino.com Located on 80 acres in the quiet town of Sandown, this destination vineyard and winery originally began as a hobby for founders Jim and Cheryl Zanello. They purchased the property in 2000 after retiring, planting a few vines in their new backyard. More than two decades later, Zorvino Vineyards has grown into offering more than 40 types of wines grown from roughly 2,500 vines on site, and now hosts all kinds of events from private wedding ceremonies and receptions to Sunday brunches, special multi-course dinners, comedy nights and more. The name “Zorvino” combines the origin of the owners’ family name Zorzanello with “Vino,” the Italian word for wine.
3. ANCIENT FIRE MEAD & CIDER
8030 S. Willow St., Building 1, Unit 7-2, Manchester, 203-4223, ancientfirewines.com Although licensed with the state as a winery, Ancient Fire is better known as a craft producer of meads and ciders with options that rotate all the time. Husband-and-wife team Jason and Margot Phelps opened Ancient Fire’s taproom in March 2018. The name “Ancient Fire” is in reference to the sun and its importance in producing the ingredients needed to make their product.
4. FLAG HILL DISTILLERY & WINERY
297 N. River Road, Lee, 659-2949, flaghill.com Totaling 14 acres, Flag Hill is the largest vineyard in the Granite State. Originally on the site of a dairy farm, Flag Hill began as a winery with its first harvest in 1990, growing over the last couple of decades into a family-operated vineyard, distillery and popular wedding and event venue. Owner and distiller Brian Ferguson and his wife Maddie use the land to produce grapes for the winery, grain for the distillery and vegetables for its events.
5. FULCHINO VINEYARD
187 Pine Hill Road, Hollis, 438-5984, fulchinovineyard.com Winemaking has been a tradition in Al Fulchino’s family for nearly two centuries. At the age of 21 he inherited his grandfather’s wine press and proceeded to make his own first wines, later purchasing the land that would become Fulchino Vineyard nestled at the bottom of Pine Hill Valley in Hollis. In addition to hosting wine tastings and dinners on site, Fulchino has founded several other community events, like the Hollis Grape Festival, which has been held in the town common every September since 2017.
6. SWEET BABY VINEYARD
260 Stage Road, Hampstead, 347-1738, sweetbabyvineyard.com Lewis and Stacey Eaton started Sweet Baby Vineyard, specializing in handcrafted wines from locally grown fruit, in 2008. Today the winery sits in the middle of the Eatons’ 8-acre farm, with a production building and a separate building for year-round tastings of its wines, of which there are around two dozen varieties.
7. HERMIT WOODS WINERY & DELI
72 Main St., Meredith, 253-7968, hermitwoods.com Founded in 2011, Hermit Woods is a small boutique winery and deli crafting fruit wine, meads and ciders with classic dry European styles, in addition to producing farm-to-table cuisine out of an onsite restaurant. All of the wines are vegan, with the exception of the honey wines, and fruit is sourced from all over New England.
8. AVERILL HOUSE VINEYARD
21 Averill Road, Brookline, 244-3165, averillhousevineyard.com This family-owned winery, founded in the summer of 2017, is located inside of a restored 1830s-era barn in the small town of Brookline. Since then, Averill House Vineyard has grown to roughly 500 cold-climate vines, composed of 11 different varietals. The remodeled barn doubles as a tasting room and production center, while the vineyard itself spans more than 2 acres with patio areas popular for tastings and picnics. The winery also hosts all types of events throughout the year, from comedy nights to special wine dinners.
9. GILMANTON WINERY & VINEYARD
528 Meadow Pond Road, Gilmanton, 267-8251, gilmantonwinery.com Grace Metalious, author of the controversial novel Peyton Place, once lived in the house that is now Gilmanton Winery. On property that’s just under 9 acres, owners Sunny and Marshall Bishop have different kinds of vines and often host brunches, dinners, tastings and tours throughout the year.
CHALIFOUR’S FLOWERS
MAKING MANCHESTER SMILE SINCE 1940 Thanks for voting us Best Florist
